


I'll be your umbrella, you be my sunshine

by Rageycakes



Category: Cassandra Palmer Series - Karen Chance
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 12:33:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12321180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rageycakes/pseuds/Rageycakes
Summary: It's raining in Vegas, and Rico is wearing a white shirt. What's a girl to do?





	I'll be your umbrella, you be my sunshine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nowinlivingcolor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nowinlivingcolor/gifts).



> This was originally posted on tumblr as a fic prompt (rhea/rico + umbrella) but I've made a couple of small edits and I'm reposting it here.

She was staring again. 

Rico had come swaggering into the penthouse just moments before, eyes dancing, devastating smile firmly in place, and absolutely dripping wet. But before she’d been able to open her mouth to question him, she’d noticed something else: instead of his usual ensemble of black jeans, black leather jacket, and black t-shirt, he’d inexplicably substituted the black shirt for a white one. It added a nice bit of contrast to his look. And it was soaked completely through. She could see...a lot.

So, Rhea was staring again. Possibly her mouth was hanging open, too, but higher brain function had ceased by that point and she didn’t bother checking.

He caught her, of course, because she was about as subtle as a hammer. His smile widened, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he stripped off his leather jacket (slower than strictly necessary, Rhea thought) and draped it over the back of a chair, never once breaking eye contact.

Rhea jumped when Fred made a disgusted noise next to her, startling her out of her ogling stupor.

“Show off,” he grumbled. “He knows exactly what he’s doing. It’s obscene.”

“Who - what do you mean?” Rhea asked innocently, though she knew exactly what. In fact, she rather agreed. She felt the heat creeping up her neck and began tugging on the collar of her shirt. Why was it so hot in here? The AC was blasting, same as always. Fred caught her eye and sighed dramatically, throwing his hands in the air as if in defeat.

“You two are ridiculous. And frankly, this dance you’re doing is getting boring.” He rolled his eyes and walked off into an adjoining room without another glance. Rhea frowned at his retreat, sure she should be indignant, but not sure exactly why.

Sure, Rico was attractive. She was mature enough to admit that. And sure, when he looked at her and did that stupid slow smile she felt a little like throwing up, but also like she was flying. And sure, when he read stories to the little girls, or chased them around making monster noises, or brought them treats or pretty gifts she felt this bright, expanding, nearly painful burst in her chest. But none of that mattered. Vampires were vampires, and acolytes were acolytes, and that kind of thing just didn’t happen. Anymore.

Rico was just flirting, anyway. He’d seen Rhea stare, and blush, and stammer nervously, and he was just having fun at her expense. She nodded to herself, even as she knew the words rang false. Rico wasn’t cruel like that. At least, not to those who didn’t deserve it. So what was it, then? She narrowed her eyes at him, and he looked a question back at her. She abrubtly looked away and began sorting through a pile of missives to the Pythia that she’d already organized. In the space of a blink he was standing in front of her, dripping all over her neatly arranged stacks. She hovered over them protectively and looked up at him in disapproval. He grinned and took a step back.

“You already sorted those.”

“Well, I thought they could use another - how did you know that?” She looked up at him in surprise.

“Because I watched you do it. You know, you keep yourself so busy around here, tending to the children, running the household, trying to anticipate everyone’s needs before they do. When was the last time you went out?” He absently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and Rhea felt her face bloom. “I bet you didn’t even notice it was raining today because you haven’t had time to look out a window. There are other people that can do this stuff. Come outside with me.” For once, Rico looked serious. And sort of intense. It was...a good look on him.

“But you said it’s raining!” She protested weakly, even as she knew she wanted to say yes. Technically there _were_ other people that could do this work. But she felt such a strong sense of obligation to these girls that had been her charges for so long, and this Pythia, her friend, whom she admired so deeply. Even _wanting_ to go out was always accompanied by a guilt so acute she ended up giving herself twice the work to atone for her selfishness. But that was crazy, right? Cassie encouraged her to take time for herself, to be independent, to have fun. She looked at Rico and he was smiling again, with that familiar twinkle back in his dark eyes.

“Yes. In Las Vegas. Do you know how rare that is? We might not get another chance to enjoy it for a while. Besides, it’s not the rain you’re used to. It’s warm and it smells sweet, like creosote and earth and sunshine.” Rico smiled and grabbed her hand, tugging it a little, encouragingly but not forcefully. 

“We don’t have any umbrellas,” Rhea said, smiling and letting him pull her toward the door. Suddenly her excuses didn’t matter, and the expectations didn’t matter, and nothing mattered but the hand in hers and the promise of warm desert rain outside.

Rico paused by the entry and grabbed his still-damp jacket, draping it over her shoulders. “I’ll be your umbrella,” he said, and they walked through the door hand-in-hand.


End file.
